Fiat M14/41

Carro armato M. 14/41
M 14/41 in the Bovington Tank Museum
Type	Medium tank
Place of origin	Kingdom of Italy
Service history
Used by	Italy Germany Australia United Kingdom
Wars	World War II
Production history
Manufacturer	Fiat-Ansaldo
Produced	1941–42
Number built	800
Specifications
Weight	14.5 t (32,000 lb)
Length	4.915 m (193.5 in)^[1]
Width	2.280 m (89.8 in)^[2]
Height	2.370 m (93.3 in)^[2]
Crew	4 (commander/radio operator, gunner, driver)

Armour	Front: 30 mm (1.2 in)^[1] Sides/rear: 25 mm (0.98 in)^[1] Floor/roof: 6–14 mm (0.24–0.55 in)^[1] Turret front: 42 mm (1.7 in)
Main armament	1 × 47 mm cannone da 47/32 AT gun 87 rounds^[3]
Secondary armament	4 × 8 mm Breda mod. 38 machine guns (1 × coaxial, 1 × AA, 2 × in hull) 2,664 rounds^[3]
Engine	SPA 15 T M41 11,140 cc V8 diesel 145 hp (108 kW) at 1,900 rpm^[4]
Suspension	Semi-elliptic leaf springs
Ground clearance	41 cm (16 in)^[1]
Operational range	200 km (120 mi)
Speed	33 km/h (21 mph) on road^[4]

The Fiat M 14/41 was a four-person medium tank that served from 1941 in the Royal Italian Army. The official Italian designation was Carro Armato M 14/41. The tank was first employed in the North African Campaign where its shortcomings quickly became apparent.

History

Development

The M 14/41 was a slightly improved version of the earlier M 13/40 with a more powerful diesel engine. It was produced in limited numbers as it was already considered obsolete by the time of its introduction. The M 14/41 used the same chassis as the M13/40 but with a redesigned hull with better armour. The M 14/41 was manufactured in 1941 and 1942. Nearly 800 had been produced by the time production ended.

In combat

Italian M 14/41 tanks in depot, September 1943.

The tank was first employed in the North African Campaign where its shortcomings quickly became apparent. The vehicle was unreliable and cramped, and caught fire easily when hit. Following the withdrawal of Italian forces from North Africa the M14/41 was rarely encountered, though many captured vehicles were pressed into service by British and Australian forces to fill the serious shortage of Allied tanks in 1941. These vehicles did not remain in Allied service for long.

Variants

The M 14/41 chassis served as the basis for the far more successful Semovente da 90/53 tank destroyer.

References

Notes

1 2 3 4 5 Falessi and Pafi 1976, p. 67.
1 2 Cappellano and Battistelli 2012, p. 46.
1 2 Pignato 2004, p. 41.
1 2 Falessi and Pafi 1976, p. 74.

Bibliography

Falessi, Cesare; Pafi, Benedetto (1976). Veicoli da Combattimento dell'Esercito Italiano dal 1939 al 1945. Intyrama books.
Cappellano, F.; Battistelli, P. P. (2012). Italian medium tanks, 1939–45. Oxford: Osprey Publishing. ISBN 9781849087759.
Pignato, Nicola (2004). Italian Armored Vehicles of World War Two. Squadron/Signal publications. ISBN 0-89747-475-9.
Trewhitt, Philip (1999). Armored Fighting Vehicles. New York, NY: Amber Books. p. 29. ISBN 0-7607-1260-3.

External links

M13/40, M14/41 Medium Tanks at wwiivehicles.com
Polish site about Fiat M14/41 with many pictures

World War II armoured fighting vehicles of Italy

Tankettes	L 2/29 L 3/33 L 3/35 L 3/38

Light tanks	L 5/21 L 5/30 L 6/40 Renault R35 (French)

Medium tanks	M 11/39 M 13/40 M 14/41 M 15/42 SOMUA S35 (French)

Heavy tanks	P 26/40

SP guns	Semovente da 47/32 Semovente da 75/18 Semovente da 75/34 Semovente da 75/46 Semovente da 90/53 Semovente da 105/25

Armoured cars	Lancia 1ZM AB 40 AB 41 AB 43 Lince AS.42

Armoured trucks	AS 37 Fiat 626 NM Fiat 665 NM Renault UE Chenillette (French) SPA Dovunque 35

Half-tracks	Breda 61

Experimental	Semovente da 20/70 quadruplo Semovente da 149/40 Vespa-Caproni Armored Car Carro Celere Sahariano P 40/43

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Sunday, April 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.